Digital Influence Mapping Project

3 NING Social Networks to Watch

The latest buzz around social networks - meaning the big guys like Facebook, Bebo, CyWorld and MySpace  - is about whether the services can ever turn into legitimate, profit-making  businesses. There is the usual hype-leads-to-backlash-of-criticism phenomena going on. Meanwhile, services like NING crank out hundreds of niche social networks for university groups, raw food enthusiasts and a private network for roadies. It's worth taking a moment to look at three examples of social networks on the rise. They are never meant to rival Facebook. Many are not meant to be revenue-generating directly. But all of these examples are serious social nets for the members involved.

Society for Word of Mouth (SWOM)
Started by Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell as a social network for word of mouth marketers focused on small business, the community has grown to 909 members in only a few short months. I am a member but admittedly don't spend as much time there as I would like. The site features member pages and groups. The forums have a few threads that are active. They have just hired a community member to become the community manager. She will no doubt fuel growth amongst the forum threads and even get the Events listing happening.

This is a commercial venture for Jackie and Ben. They have Google Ads and you can contact Ben to talk about more integrated advertising opportunities.

What's the point? Simple, this community will grow into a great idea exchange amongst people enthusiastic about word of mouth marketing (or as they clarify "an operational belief system"). Jackie and Ben will steward that community and offer valuable content and experiences for the business people who are members. Here's how they describe their purpose:

"1. To be a free social network for the true believers of word of mouth (or the merely curious);
2. To be a premium educational resource for making word of mouth fundamental to the DNA of any organization.

For the second part of the mission, SWOM will host webinars, training opportunities and produce educational materials in the weeks and months ahead. Plus, we'll have in-person events. Fun events!"

SWOM allows a community to grow organically around a BtoB knowledge delivery and networking service. Ben and Jackie provide the critical core  - the flint, if you will, for what will inevitably take off as a wildfire.

Firefighter Nation
Billed as "The Professional & Social Network for Firefighters, EMS and Rescue," Firefighter Nation boasts 21,000 members! Within the network, they have groups for Australian Firefighters, Firefighter Workouts, and an invite-only group for Fire Chiefs.

Thousands of pictures, 3500 videos, over a thousand message discussions (threads?) - there's a lot going on here. Dave Iannone is the founder of the service and is actually nearby in Maryland. I love that his bio says that he started working at the Hyattsville Fire Department when he was 12! Like Jackie and Ben, he's a professional (he has been working in media for a while now) and the solidness of the community probably has a lot to do with his efforts and knowledge.

He's got Google Ads on the site and what a great place to get in front of upwards to 20K fire and EMS professionals.

The Hoff
Yes, as in David Hasselhoff. I assumed this was the over the top ramblings of a rabid fan (I am a rabid fan of plenty of folks so this is not meant in any way to criticize Hasselhoff fans). But then I noticed two things. First - there are almost 9000 members on board. Second - this is David's social network for himself and his fans.

I love that the blog posts are from him and that he shared a whimsical video shot by himself in front of the Eiffel tower in a tie. Fans can connect directly with him. Using the SayNow plug in, fans can leave audio messages at a phone service ("Hassel the Hoff"). They are encouraged to photograph themselves around the world with "Hoff Around the World" signs set in the most extraordinary typefaces ever to print off a desktop printer.

This is a great example of a performer taking the bull by the horns and managing their "brand." I don't know how much credit to give to David or to the company that discretely advertises on the site - iconduit - as a media agency for iconic talent, which David definitely qualifies for. I choose to believe that the blog posts and videos are David-generated with a minumum of coaching

There are 41 members in the "Hoff for President" group. That's more than the "Metal Fans of Hoff Society" group. I know that's significant, I just don't know how.

Three good examples of how social networks arr growing and flourishing. No one's going to get rich with Google Ads but it's a start. Do you think that 1000 word of mouth marketers, 9000 David Hasselhoff fans or 21,000 firefighters might be a great connection for the right marketer?

We Are All Fashion Designers Now!

I love women's fashion. No, not in that weird, creepy way. I love the imagination and the style applied to a look. I have always known women with style who could put a look together beyond what a card-carrying fashion designer might do for the masses. Individual fashion. I gave my daughter (11)  a book on Japanese Street Fashion - harajuku - because she was intrigued by the extreme styles and drama of the looks. She puts her own looks together (no, that is not a picture of her)

Now there are two resources - one online and one in Beverly Hills - that tap into the personal stylist in all of us.

The social network for street style
"Street" is probably the wrong word. Personal Style is probably a better phrase overall but still we are talking about everyday fashion made for and by the people. I love Chictopia. The name comes from "chic" not "chick" so, don't worry.

Helen Zhu and her cofounders have established a social network grounded in people sharing their looks for themselves and getting ideas from the community. you can dive deep into the forums but the real action is in the photographs and the voting. This simplicity is the core of its beauty. In a time when we all belong to too many social networks, a simple structure that builds on teh one affinity - personal fashion - that brings members together is better than all the bells and whistles in the world.

Did I mention Hot Deals! Chictopia has a great business model that goes beyond targeted display advertising into deal sponsorships. If I were a retailer serving young women, i would be all over this community. (Sure, they don't have real "reach" yet, but I love this idea so much I knwo they will get there).

Fashion DIY in Beverly Hills
FashionologyLA recently launched (thanks Springwise) a new store catering to young girls who want a distinctive look at the touch of a few buttons. It's co-creation at the retail storefront. Here's how Springwise described the store experience (designed by: BigBuddhaBaba )

"Using touch-screen Design Pads, they begin by selecting what type of garment they'd like to create, choosing from an assortment of tops, bottoms and dresses. From there they select a fashion "mood" onscreen—themes include Juku, Pop, Rock, Malibu and Peace, all of which include a colourful array of graphic images. They then pick embellishments for their garments, choosing from options including Sew It, Clip It, Bling It and Pin It. Once a girl completes her design, she proceeds to the U-Bar, where a friendly Fashionologist uses a heat press to add the key design element to her new look and gives her a tray of embellishments to take to the customized Make It table. "

I am going to LA in a few weeks and hope to stop into the store to get some pics. For teh tween who wants a distinctive look - something that defines her - this could be a great choice. The looks have to be "ownable."   It cannot just be the difference between a glitter butterfly vs. an applique puppy. I serached Flickr and came up empty. But that is what they need - a gallery of customers proud in their looks (tough when your customers are so young and online privacy is a concern). Can they create a Chictopia-lite community? Will they offer looks as dramatic as the streets fo Japan? Whil ethe seocnd isn't likely, i hope they figure out the online gallery. Their store begs for user images.

I love how digital is putting the consumer in charge of fashion.

The Open Room from Singapore

We have a great Digital Influence team in Singapore. Smart people working with some of the best brands in the world. The team launched a blog a couple of months back and they also launched an idea called the Open Room. It's a meeting place for those neck deep in social media and marketers. Not too much structure - just enough to have a conversation or a meet up.

They have posted a terrific video with sound bites from noteworthy digital leaders from SG:

Closing Communities: Is There a Better Way?

I was drawn in by Ben McConnell's post about the closing of Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom (VMK). The virtual community fueled by Sulake closed one week ago. Lots of coverage from CNN to WSJ. Fans have gone the Jehrico route and set up protest sites. But it's not fair to compare the closing of a community that had been live and active for a couple of years with a passive TV show. Community mmbers feel abaonded, let down or down-right disrespected. Disney claims that the community was part of a limited time celebration of their 50th anniversary and the current message on the url is fairly ubrupt.

John Frost over at the Disney Blog (unofficial) had a terrific post last month about the closing. He considers many angles of the business drivers inside Disney from the decentralized buisness unit structure to the rigorous margin goals shared across the enterprise. Ben takes teh claim that the community was intended for a short term campaign. We wrestle with campaign-mentality in marcom all the time. Only difference is that our campaigns are often a few monmths long whereas this community was up for more than two years. Ben goes on in his post to set up the business rationale for a community to begin with:

"Campaign thinking is a byproduct of the last 25 years of business school education. The formula has been to create a short-term project using established metrics, execute, then start over with a new idea. Move the needle quickly.

The formula for evangelism thinking is: Create a project where the community of users become part of the process and most importantly, are considered a tangible asset. The needle may not move as fast because the investment is for the long term, but it's less likely to have wild, up-and-down swings."

Both authors have hit on something important: communities can serve the business goals of a company and their value and the actual value of the community members should be weighed with a business eye. 

Sometimes you have to close

If you valuate the community, you may find it is not a sustainable enterprise. As business people (and community enthusiasts) we cannot say that a business must keep a community going or make any other business decision not in line with their fiscal responsibilities.  I completely respect the investment of the VMK community members.

But it's how you do it that shows what you are made of

As usual, I think the real missed opportuntiy is how they did it. Communities are co-created experiences no matter who licensed the software or created the bitmaps. Inviting members of the community in to discuss what could happen next - where could the community be directed to to reform, how could they stay connected or how they could participate in the next Disney creation - all of these discussions might have helped the community transition. It would certianly telegraph that Disney respects its community members. Still people would be angry. But some would understand. Just look at John Frost's business-like assessment.

So sites like Savevmk crop up and gather petitions. they also collect comments - almost 5000 comments that show the emtional connection as well as the disappointment:

"Flower_KId
What cruel heartless person would want to close vmk. If anyone ever trys to close vmk i will hurt to a point were they can't even breath! If you close vmk then you shut off the love I have for Disney. I will never watch Disney channel again if vmk closes. vmk staff wise up and keep vmk for all the children to enjoy. VMK, VMK, WHAT'S THE NAME IT'S VMK, HOORAY!! "

Would it be a huge risk for someone from Disney to participate in that comment string?

Will EA Do It Better? 

Now SIMS Online from EA is closing. From the sounds of it, they do not have the vibrant community that VMK had. Still, it looks like they may also be tumbling forward in a less than ideal way. They changed the name of the community to EAOnline and then immediately announced it's closure. Someone asked if they did that just so they wouldn't have to say that one of their most prized assets didn't hit a home run. Undoubtedly, they are closing for business reasons - for one reason or another it doesn't make business sense for them to keep going with it. I only hope they are reaching out to their community - what little there may be - and having them contribute to next steps for that community.

If more companies went the extra mile to demonstrate their respect for and their value of their community members (read: customers, evangelists, potential customers), they could make business decisions like closing a community and maintain many of their strong positive relationships with community members.  

The Learning, Teaching, Doing Continuum

In marketing, communications and the integration of social media in each, there are practitioners and there are pundits. There are practitioners who are in a constant state of growth from learning and teaching. There are also analysts who fall somewhere in between. They are also in the learning-teaching practice as they try to make useful sense of what is happening in the market.

I was reminded of this recently by a simple post from Seth Godin on How to Read a Business Book. I aspire to read lots of books - business, marketing, fiction and the occaisional left-field of my interests. I cannot read or consume them all as swiftly as I would like and have a considerable backlog. (Reading "Leading for Growth" by Ray Davis/Umpqua Bank now.) But Seth's post reminds me that me drive to "consume" them may not be the best use of the time. How will I pass along what I learn from the reading? How will I find the useful, actionable gems available in almost every book (or any life experience)?

He suggests that I dive into the next book in a different way:

"1. Decide, before you start, that you’re going to change three things about what you do all day at work. Then, as you’re reading, find the three things and do it. The goal of the reading, then, isn’t to persuade you to change, it’s to help you choose what to change.

2. If you’re going to invest a valuable asset (like time), go ahead and make it productive. Use a postit or two, or some index cards or a highlighter. Not to write down stuff so you can forget it later, but to create marching orders....

3. It’s not about you, it’s about the next person. The single best use of a business book is to help someone else. Sharing what you read, handing the book to a person who needs it... pushing those around you to get in sync and to take action..."

Read with the intent to get something out of it - something you can pass along to be of service to your peers. There is a discipline in living in a constant state of growth and learning. I have found that teaching is part of that discipline, as is actually "doing." Even our team - 360° Digital Influence, the social media, word of mouth team - has adopted a constant learn/teach/do discipline to be as sharp as possible about what we do for clients. We have developed a curriculum for new recruits and clients that pass along the best practices that we have learned from actually planning and implementing word of mouth marketing. The process of actually building that curriculum which everybody on the team has participated in helps us all learn as we are forced to communicate information and experience.

We don't pretend to know everything.We do believe that living in a culture of learn/teach/do makes us more valuable to our clients (and to each other). Seth's approach to book reading captures that spirit beautifully.

The Insiders Guide to Using Community for Marketing

We were at the Community2.0 conference in Las Vegas. Many of us are brands or marketers. We want to engage with or build community to meet some marketing goal - itself designed around a business goal. We may want more loyal customers, a way to activate brand advocates, build brand reputation and value, and even sell products and services.

For marketers at a community conference, we needed to talk about real-world practices where we have engaged with communities to get business done. We need to go beyond community 101. We accepted the folllowing:

• we need to serve the authentic needs of community members
• our solution is not simply shoe-horning display advertising into community spaces
• activating and stewarding community takes a new expertise

I had four experts on our panel and another 50 in the room  Each understands a marketer’s perspective.

Amy Dalton, Senior Director of Marketing, Topix, LLC.
Peter Friedman, Chairman and CEO, LiveWorld, Inc.
Aaron Strout, Vice President, New Media, Mzinga
Dave Carter, Founder, and CTO, Awareness, Inc.

Our session the Insider’s Guide for Marketers using “Community”  - we wanted to hear what each has learned from developing or running communities with marketers. And we got great experiences for the community of experts throughout the room (there remains a great Tweme here)

Insider’s Guide for Marketers using “Community”

1. Avoid registration as it becomes a barrier to entry that slows down or can choke the community.
2. Make the right choice about partnering vs. creating features for that community. Topix tried to create classifieds for their community when it turned out to be more efficient to partner.
3. Don't try too hard to organize the chaos. Rather use it to your advantage. The message here is don't try to over control the community.
4. It's a myth that communities don't like advertisers or advertising. If it's done right  they not only tolerate it but they actually like it.
5. Seek and embrace criticism don't simply allow it.
6. Invite them to co-create as they become "owners" and ambassadors
7. Use Twitter (there was a solid core of us at the conference "covering" our experience there via #c20 Tweme)
8. Embrace as many points of enthusiasm as possible. Wherever people are expressing themselves - the core community, Facebook groups, Twitter memes - then embrace that activity somehow.
9. Create community around brand-relevant topics that you find are already relevant to people (vs. communities directly around a product brand)
10. Know who you are inviting to dinner and actively seek them out. If you want a thoughtful PBS-like crowd then design for them and go find them.
11. Don't get lost in developing features. Spend your time getting people to express themselves and becoming engaged in dialogue.
12. Know which KPIs matter. Start by deciding which metrics from the community will indicate success and progress - there are no relevant standards.
13. Build your own ROI model. Use Charlene Li's ROI of Blogging for reference.
14. Use studies that demonstrate the business value of community members (e.g. - better customers, more likely to advocate, lifetime value, etc...)

It was a lively discussion. These points are not a complete guide by any means. They are the practical insights of a few, great experts teased out in a great collaborative session at Community 2.0.

Useful Links:

B2B Marketers Fail The Community Marketing Test
Forrester Report: Online Community Best Practices

Web Community Forum

Marketing: War Metaphors Should Surrender to Community Development Metaphors

Many of us complain about the use of war metaphors in marketing: target audiences, campaigns, strategy & tactics, KPIs (not sure this is really a war thing it just sounds like KIAs). We really attack our problems. We report out campaign success with McNamara-like data devoid of much humanity. Try as I might, I always come back to calling people like myself "target audiences." I do it so the different marketing teams that I work with will know what I am talking about. The war college vocabulary is that ingrained.

We need a new model that we can teach at B-school and start using in the marketplace. I don't have the ultimate right answer but I think it has something to do with community development.

I don't mean community online. I mean like urban, suburban and rural community development. I remember designing a town in 5th grade complete with streets, buildings for government and businesses. You know - ice cream cone shaped ice cream stores, schools that looked more like amusement parks (I remember one boy designed a strip joint into his town that looked like a pair of breasts - 5th grade!). Anyhow, the ideas behind designing communities are very positive and appealing on some level.

The Ol' In-and-Out vs. a Committed Effort
Campaigns come and go. We dial them up and then close them out. We always "win" in marketing campaigns as we cannot admit defeat. Community development is a long term play. When we think about how to design and support a community, we spend time observing what's important to the people in that community - what are they talking about, where do they spend their time, what are their shared values.

We design to bring value to their lives, sometimes to make their lives easier. We try things that may serve the people. What if we add a community center with a gym since the schools sports programs are underfunded? If we insert a road here will it spark more commerce between neighborhood A and B?

What is the language of community development? I am no expert despite my fascination. I would guess we talk about "the public," community groups and citizens. We talk about community enhancements, projects and initiatives.

If the ultimate goal is selling ("We sell or else!"), does selling have to be such a conquest? Can it be not just a transaction but part of a relationship, a long term commitment to build up communities?

Links of use:

• What are KPIs
• Eric Petersen's Great Book on KPIs
• The Dashboard Spy
• Peace Magazine - History of Military Metaphors

(Photo CC from AtomicShed)

Corporate Blogging Grown Up

I guest-lectured at a colleague's graduate class at Johns Hopkins where I also teach a class. One of her students - a young man in his twenties studying to enter marketing and/or communications - asked seriously, "Can I just wait out the whole blog-thing, wait till it fades away or do I have to pay attention to what's happening?"

Didn't expect that question from him, a digital native. But I do hear it a lot from business "gray-hairs"  - the digital immigrants. The short answer is that blogging will not fade away like a fad. I certainly believe there will be a "leveling off" of the explosive growth we have seen. But too many people have found a voice and a reward for publishing their POV to expect that to recede  It is part of a movement that will continue to grow and change affecting how we market from this moment forward.

It's Not All About Blogs

My team focuses on the larger realm of social media and the word of mouth marketing it makes possible. We find ourselves constantly telling curious clients, "It's not all about blogs." (nor, is it all about Facebook or running ads on Federated Media). And while the options for a comprehensive social media strategy are broad, it's interesting to see how the tactic of starting a brand blog(s) is maturing, becoming a sensible part of a marcom effort, and being applied by various brands.

I wanted to examine how three contemporary brands are using blogs today. You can get a pretty good list of business blogs here. I wanted to look beyond the stalwart examples: the GM blog(s), the Southwest Airlines blog, even the Direct2Dell blog. Each of these remain great examples and enduring efforts. I wanted to examine some new ones or some of which remain less spotlighted.

Contemporary Corporate Blogs: Lenovo, WellsFargo, Starbucks
They are each very different businesses with very different needs and situations. (Full disclosure: We started Lenovo blogs with David Churbuck. Our company also does work with WellsFargo but I have no connection with that business.)

In the case of Lenovo and Wells Fargo, I talked with some of the folks running those blogs. I did reach out to Starbucks but haven't heard back yet.

For Wells Fargo, I connected with Staci Schiller, Wells Fargo Education Financial Services. Staci runs the Student Loans Blog.

For Lenovo, I reached out to David Churbuck, VP of Global Web Marketing

Here's what I wanted to understand: 

• What are they actually doing on the blog? What are they publishing about?
• Who is writing/producing the blog?
• How shareable, findable and ultimately "social" is the blog? (Things that Rohit coined the term "Social Media Optimization" to describe)
• How are they measuring "performance" or success?

Lenovo

The Skinny (short description of the blog)
A series of blogs from different leaders & managers within Lenovo. Currently the blogs are in English. They are aggregated into a single url and bundled with their Flickr feed, del.cio.us tags and it links through to Lenovo Communities which feature user message boards. 

When asked what surprised him about the blogs, David Churbuck said,

"The quick acceptance and genuine good will throughout the organization was inspiring. The greatest surprise came when a blogger complimented a competitor for a design choice, received some internal criticism for "aiding the enemy" but then turned that negativity to positive feelings when one writer said it made Lenovo blogs more authentic and genuine than the typical company PR blog."

The Bloggers (who is writing or producing the material)
Various personalities within the company from David Hill, who runs their global product design team, to Bill Stephenson, who heads up CSR. They are not all senior leaders but they are people with a POV.

The Purpose (what is the marketing or communications purpose)

• Build a direct relationship with people inside Lenovo and publics
• Improve overall customer service and relationships
• Enhance the brand reputation of the company

David Churbuck: "To provide an interesting experience to the readers worthy of their time and to persuade them that the passion of the company for its products and customers is genuine."

The Measurement (how do they measure success)

David Churbuck: "Metrics are not closely followed in terms of traditional page views, RSS subscriptions, or other quant measures. Primary justification is enthusiasm of readers, customers, press and the bloggers themselves. Success is the ability to publish, with near instantaneous execution, information vital to the business."

David and his team measure overall Web metrics for the blogs but look for those qualitative wins - customer service "fixes", innovative suggestions from customers, their ability to address concerns and communicate what they are doing inside Lenovo. 

The Social Score (how connected are they: 1 to 5)

Lenovo gets a 4.5

Lenovo Blogs is growing in depth and breadth. That means they continue to add bloggs and bloggers. Unlike Wells Fargo, they tend to limit the number of bloggers on a single blog to somewhere between 1 and 4. The breadth part includes adding other social features like the Flickr gallery and del.icio.us feeds. I would guess we will see a YouTube gallery soon, Dopplr and other features.

No appreciable blogrolls anywhere. That seems to be a common issue with "official" corporate blogs. Linking feels like endorsement no doubt and that causes anxiety. Also, corporate blogs don't jockey for popularity the way personal blogs do through link-baiting and eventual link-love. They rely more clearly on search results to connect with readers. Lenovo blogs shows up on the first two pages of Google results for Lenovo (but not ThinkPad).

Wells Fargo

The Skinny (short description of the blog)
Wells Fargo currently runs 4 group blogs with more than 30 bloggers contributing. These include Guided By History which talks about the heritage of the company, The Student LoanDown and a SecondLife-inspired Stagecoach Island (all their names are service marks so don't steal them). The blogs feel collegial and informal enough. We have pictures of all the contributors to bring the personality to life. No multimedia yet.

I asked Staci Schiller, blogger at The Student LoanDown, to summarize their approach to blogging.

Staci Schiller: "The banking industry is heavily regulated, and for good reasons, so we carefully consider how we interact with users and what kinds of topics we discuss. Also, most of our bloggers are team members who have full time jobs, and to add blogging--writing, posting, reading, replying--on top of those jobs takes dedication and discipline. The culture of blogging is unique and we strive to connect with that culture in the way we communicate and interact in the blogosphere."

The Bloggers (who is writing or producing the material)
One thing I noticed is that Wells Fargo seems to have a staff of historians. Charles Riggs, who is featured on the Guided by History blog is a researcher with Wells Fargo Historical Services since 1995.  John Stumpf, President and CEO appears on that blog's masthead. Many of the other bloggers within Guided by History are in some way connected to archives, museum or history business functions. 

The Student LoanDown features more of a marketing/communications staff (approximately 8)as bloggers.

The Commercial Electronic Blog requires log-in and Stagecoach Island positions itself as  a community with 3D graphics that you might associate with a Second Life-type virtual world

The Purpose (what is the marketing or communications purpose)
With this variety, each of the blogs serves a different audience and potentially a different purpose. The Guided By History blog is all about bringing the heritage of teh company to life and therefore to support the corporate brand position.

Student LoanDown is more directly targeting customers.

Staci Schiller: "Our goal is to serve customers when, where and how they want to be served. People get their information in many different ways, and social media offers us a new opportunity to have a dialogue with our customers, learn from them, and provide information and advice on topics that are important to them. We're reaching new audiences in a personal way when our team members share their thoughts and experiences on blogs."

The Measurement (how do they measure success)

Staci Schiller: "Blogging is about engaging in conversations, so we measure success based upon the number of readers we attract, as well as their interaction with us through email feedback, comments, and reader posts on their own blogs or sites about our blogs."

The Social Score (how connected are they)

Wells Fargo gets a 4

Like most corporate blogs, the Wells Fargo blogs don't feature BlogRolls per se. While the bloggers seem to do plenty of crosslinking from with posts, the site itself does not leverage many of the social media tools that others do: bookmark icons, send-this-to-a-friend links, YouTube or Flickr galleries.

They have more bloggers per blog than Lenovo. But fewer blogs. And there is no sign yet that they are implementing any other social media content or features that might expand how people connect with them. Still, their experimentation with formats - the virtual community - demonstrates they are trying different things.

Starbucks

The Skinny (short description of the blog)
Unlike the others, the Starbuck's blog is part of a larger co-creation that has gotten a lot of coverage lately, My Starbuck's Idea. Like Dell's Ideastorm, the overall site solicits Starbuck's product and service ideas from customers on the Web. The blog is called Ideas in Action. It's where they report back on the ideas submitted.

The Bloggers (who is writing or producing the material)
There seem to be quite a few bloggers including Brad Stevens Vice President of Marketing. many are identified with name and picture, some have cryptic user names like Sbx_bean. Makes you wonder who these folks are. There seem to be almost 14 different bloggers with only one or two posting more than once. 

The Purpose (what is the marketing or communications purpose)
The blog is focused on responding to the user ideas submitted in My Starbuck's Idea. It is part of a co-creation activity and meant to build a strong relationship with those folks motivated to post and read this experience. The feedback alone in the core co-creation space is priceless.

The Measurement (how do they guage success)
While I haven't spoken to Starbuck's, the blog's performance is so integrated into the co-creation that beyond Web traffic, they must report number of ideas submitted, votes and comments per idea (the suggestion that the difference between Venti and Grande should me more than more milk received 177 comments to date). They are focused on reaping product and service innovation benefits.

The Social Score (how connected are they)

The whole thing gets a 4.5. (If you just carved off the "blog" element, that would only get a 3 or so)

Yes, the co-creation idea thing has been done. But it's a great social media experience that more brands would benefit from. While the blog proper does not allow for comments, there are plenty of comments in the idea space. Starbuck's lets its fans and regular customers take centerstage and as in many communities, it's the community that comes to the defense of the brand when critical comments are posted.

Summary
Both Lenovo Blogs and Wells Fargo are great examples of blogging growing up into a real communication activity. Still, both organizations are bootstrapping the effort - all of the bloggers have day jobs.

While Lenovo is embracing more of what's available in social media, Wells Fargo seems to have more of the rank and file involved as bloggers. In both cases, they have opted for special interest blogs - from student loan conversations to product design. They are letting those with a voice and POV within the company develop an audience (a community of readers/commenters) around more focused topics.

Best Insight From Duncan Wardle at Disney

Disney surprised me at the Media Relations Summit 2008. Duncan Wardle, VP of Global PR Disney Parks, talked openly about having some challenges launching social media-based programs inside the company. The legal department was mentioned several times with a knowing tone in his voice.

They have several social media-based programs going: Virtual Magic Kingdom (think Habbo Hotel meets NeoPets) Dream Jobs (would you like to be a Pirate at the park for a day? Who wouldn't?), a Mom's panel and others. He introduced each by commenting on how challenging it was to get these "uncontrollable" programs through legal.

But the insight came during his description of some of these programs and when he answered the question about where social media responsibility should reside in the marcom world within an organization like Disney.

More Complex Integration

Duncan described having all players of the marcom mix at the table - the brand managers, the advertising folks, the Public Relations team, the CRM folks, etc... That is how we are working more and more. Who "owns" social media or it's more mature outcome, word of mouth marketing, is a trick question. He described how they strike more complex deals now with entities like the big portals (e.g. Yahoo) which weave the communication goals and business objectives of all of the discip0lines to get the most out of the portal. So, it's not just an ad buy to drive traffic to an initiative, it's editorial integration, an even a bigger commitment on selling rooms via the travel channel within the portal, and so on.

Campaigns meant to generate customer or employee involvement and word of mouth work better when complemented and integrated with PR and advertising. They need to work together to get the best effect. And social media? Social media is a set of tools, techniques and methods used to reach a marketing or communications goal - usually in the form of word of mouth marketing. I added this last distinction. I think it was implicit in Duncan's talk.

WOMM University: Practical Tools & Techniques

There's a great event coming up in May. As a WOMMA member I see this event as a breakthrough in formats. It's practical, hands-on coursework in Word of Mouth Marketing alongside the best in the business. You will leave with new ideas, new programs, new tools that you can apply to your business and brands today. It will be intimate with a live participatory model that will give you access to some of the best WOMM practitioners in the world.

May 8 & 9th, 2008 in Miami. Get more & register at http://womma.org/wommu/

Three big reasons to come:

Great Insightful Keynotes:
Carla Hendra, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Ogilvy North America will share how word of mouth marketing is transforming marketing, why every CMO needs to evolve their view of the discipline and inside stories on how Ogilvy has embraced WOM.

Andy Lark, VP of Global Marketing & Communications, Dell gives an inside look at how word of mouth and social media has changed Dell forever and how they are using more and more non traditional marketing and communications, to be a part of the conversation with their customers.

Intimate Roundtable Sessions:
Call it a collaboratory, call it a roundtable, but don't call it a "presentation." We've added a series of intimate roundtables (10-15 people) hosted by experts where you can share in a conversation with your peers on topics that matter to you.

We will cover top questions including:
What’s new in 2008?
What’s working based upon real brand case studies?
How can I get started in WOMM and how can I pilot a program in 2008?
How can I make my existing WOM programs even more effective?
How can I measure and report ROI now?
Who can help me create effective WOMM programs?
How can I connect with my peers in this space?

Great Brand Cases:
See the following brands share their best cases for Word of Mouth Marketing from concept to measurement:Carnival Cruise Lines, New York Times, Houlihans Restaurants, OPI Cosmetics

Register This Week for a Special Member Ogilvy Pricing:
This deal will be put in place sometime tomorrow. Just register as a member for now. If you register before April 14, the conference fee is $995 for EVERYONE. That's member pricing. Then, it reverts to the regular pricing for nonmembers ($1495).

While you may have missed the initial deal, if you register as a non-member and enter "fanofogilvy" you will get $150 off the registration price.